My parents deserve a lot of credit for whom and where I am today. However, there are two other role models in my life that really helped shape me into the student that I am, my cousins Katie and Tommy. Both of them have always been the next step ahead of me. I’ve always looked up to them because of their abilities to balance a great school and social life. Both of my cousins were honors and high honors students in high school and graduated near the top of their class in college as well. When I face a new experience in school, I think about what they would do or how they would handle the situation. I’ve always looked up to them for guidance and I always will. They will always be setting the steps to success and I will be following in their footsteps on my journey.
My cousin Tommy was the archetypal “golden boy” in his school. He excelled academically and was able to play premier league soccer. He moved on to become the starting goalie at UVM. Tommy sort of had it made because school was easy to him; subjects came to him quickly without too much stress or extra help. He was far from perfect though; Tommy had a little bit of the devil in him too. The positive point of his mistakes is that I was able to learn from them as he did. I may not have exactly learned first-hand from his mistakes, but I still saw the reaction from him and my family. This taught me lessons of things that are worth trying and things to never even attempt. What I also learned is that I must keep my focus in school so that I don’t get behind. Tommy had been struggling in a class and instead of studying or getting help; he wasted his time goofing off and had to pay the price. Luckily, he was smart enough to learn from the mistake and get back on track. Tommy wasn’t all bad; he did so many great things throughout his academic lifetime. He was near the top of his graduating class in high school, graduated from Loomis Chaffee and was given a top job at GE after he graduated from UVM. He may not be perfect, but he will always be someone I look up to.
The complete opposite of Tommy was his sister Katie. For her, school did not come easy. She struggled in math which slowed down her other subjects a little bit too. She had to let go of high school sports so that she could get help in math and still have time to spend with friends. I admire her determination because it is not easy to give up sports that you enjoy. It’s like she could see the future turning out the way it did for her. That is an ability that I wish I possessed, being able to see what my current actions would help me become. She sacrificed a lot so that she could balance friends and the problems she had with schoolwork. By the end of it all, she had become strong in math and got into the college that she wanted to. She graduated as the summa cum laude from Salve Regina and has a job she loves in Rhode Island. She really showed me how sacrificing can be easy and that I don’t have to look back if I am where I want to be. She also proves that working hard will pay off.
What both of my cousins taught me together is how to create a good balance between school work and having a social life. They will always be the next big step ahead of me; as I graduated high school, they made the transitions into college and as I enter college, they are moving out into the “real world” and I’m carefully watching and looking at what they do next. When I am not sure what I should do or how I should do something, I often think about what they may have tried or will ask them. They’ve been through it all and I am just beginning what they had mastered. I am very lucky to have a close family and such great role models wherever I look. They showed me that school is not just all work and no play, but it takes a lot of work and self-control to get where I want to get. I really hope that all the sacrifices and hard work pay off. I also hope the balance of school and fun continues the way it has. There are always going to be road blocks and stress on the journey to success. With the two role models I’ve looked up to my whole life, I firmly believe that I will also enjoy success in the future.
My parents deserve a lot of credit for whom and where I am today. However, there are two other role models in my life that really helped shape me into the student that I am, my cousins Katie and Tommy. Both of them have always been the next step ahead of me. I’ve always looked up to them because of their abilities to balance a great school and social life. Both of my cousins were honors and high honors students in high school and graduated near the top of their class in college as well. When I face a new experience in school, I think about what they would do or how they would handle the situation. I’ve always looked up to them for guidance and I always will. They will always be setting the steps to success and I will be following in their footsteps on my journey.
My cousin Tommy was the archetypal “golden boy” in his school. He excelled academically and was able to play premier league soccer. He moved on to become the starting goalie at UVM. Tommy sort of had it made because school was easy to him; subjects came to him quickly without too much stress or extra help. He was far from perfect though; Tommy had a little bit of the devil in him too. The positive point of his mistakes is that I was able to learn from them as he did. I may not have exactly learned first-hand from his mistakes, but I still saw the reaction from him and my family. This taught me lessons of things that are worth trying and things to never even attempt. What I also learned is that I must keep my focus in school so that I don’t get behind. Tommy had been struggling in a class and instead of studying or getting help; he wasted his time goofing off and had to pay the price. Luckily, he was smart enough to learn from the mistake and get back on track. Tommy wasn’t all bad; he did so many great things throughout his academic lifetime. He was near the top of his graduating class in high school, graduated from Loomis Chaffee and was given a top job at GE after he graduated from UVM. He may not be perfect, but he will always be someone I look up to.
The complete opposite of Tommy was his sister Katie. For her, school did not come easy. She struggled in math which slowed down her other subjects a little bit too. She had to let go of high school sports so that she could get help in math and still have time to spend with friends. I admire her determination because it is not easy to give up sports that you enjoy. It’s like she could see the future turning out the way it did for her. That is an ability that I wish I possessed, being able to see what my current actions would help me become. She sacrificed a lot so that she could balance friends and the problems she had with schoolwork. By the end of it all, she had become strong in math and got into the college that she wanted to. She graduated as the summa cum laude from Salve Regina and has a job she loves in Rhode Island. She really showed me how sacrificing can be easy and that I don’t have to look back if I am where I want to be. She also proves that working hard will pay off.
What both of my cousins taught me together is how to create a good balance between school work and having a social life. They will always be the next big step ahead of me; as I graduated high school, they made the transitions into college and as I enter college, they are moving out into the “real world” and I’m carefully watching and looking at what they do next. When I am not sure what I should do or how I should do something, I often think about what they may have tried or will ask them. They’ve been through it all and I am just beginning what they had mastered. I am very lucky to have a close family and such great role models wherever I look. They showed me that school is not just all work and no play, but it takes a lot of work and self-control to get where I want to get. I really hope that all the sacrifices and hard work pay off. I also hope the balance of school and fun continues the way it has. There are always going to be road blocks and stress on the journey to success. With the two role models I’ve looked up to my whole life, I firmly believe that I will also enjoy success in the future.